विज्ञान

By Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil BENGALURU (Reuters) -India's government on Wednesday proposed that artificial intelligence and social media firms should clearly label AI-generated content to tackle the spread of deepfake and misinformation, prompted by similar moves by the European Union and China. With nearly 1 billion internet users, the stakes are high in a sprawling country of many ethnic and religious communities where fake news risks stirring up deadly strife and AI deepfake videos have alarmed officials during elections. The new rules require platforms to label AI-generated content with markers covering at least 10% of the surface area of a visual display or the initial 10% of the duration of an audio clip, placing more responsibilities on the likes of OpenAI, Meta, X and Google. Social media companies will also have to obtain a user declaration on whether uploaded information is AI-generated, and deploy reasonable technical measures to ensure checks and balances, the Indian government's draft proposal said. The rules will "ensure visible labelling, metadata traceability, and transparency for all public-facing AI-generated media," India's IT ministry said, inviting suggestions from the public and industry by November 6. GOVERNMENT WORRIED ABOUT GROWING RISKS OF AI The potential for misuse of generative AI tools "to cause user harm, spread misinformation, manipulate elections, or impersonate individuals has grown significantly," the government added. OpenAI, Google and Meta did not respond to Reuters queries. Indian courts are hearing high-profile lawsuits related to deepfakes. Bollywood stars Abhishek Bachchan and his wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan have asked a New Delhi judge to remove and prohibit creation of AI videos infringing their intellectual property rights, and challenged YouTube's AI training policy. The rules about covering 10% of surface area are "among the first explicit attempts globally to prescribe a quantifiable visibility standard," said Dhruv Garg, founding partner at public policy research firm, Indian Governance and Policy Project. If implemented, the rules will require AI platforms in India to build in automated labelling systems to identify and mark AI-generated content at the point of creation, he added. India is emerging as a big market for AI firms. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in February that India was its second-largest market by number of users, which have tripled in the past year. (Reporting by Munsif Vengattil and Aditya Kalra; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Ed Osmond)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

BENGALURU (Reuters) -India's government on Wednesday proposed new legal obligations for artificial intelligence and social media firms to tackle a growing proliferation of deepfakes online, by mandating them to label such content as AI-generated. The potential for misuse of generative AI tools "to cause user harm, spread misinformation, manipulate elections, or impersonate individuals has grown significantly," India's IT ministry said in a press release, explaining the rationale behind the move. The proposed rules mandate social media companies to require their users to declare if they are uploading deepfake content. With nearly 1 billion internet users, the stakes are high in a sprawling country of many ethnic and religious communities where fake news risks stirring up deadly strife and AI deepfake videos have alarmed officials during elections. (Reporting by Munsif Vengattil and Aditya Kalra; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Ed Osmond)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By James Pearson LONDON (Reuters) -The hack of Jaguar Land Rover, owned by India's Tata Motors, cost the British economy an estimated 1.9 billion pounds ($2.55 billion) and affected over 5,000 organisations, an independent cybersecurity body said in a report published on Wednesday. The report was produced by the Cyber Monitoring Centre, an independent, not for profit organisation made up of industry specialists, including the former head of Britain's National Cyber Security Centre. It said losses could be higher if there were unexpected delays to the restoration of production at the vehicle manufacturer to levels before the hack took place in August. "This incident appears to be the most economically damaging cyber event to hit the UK, with the vast majority of the financial impact being due to the loss of manufacturing output at JLR and its suppliers," the report said. JLR will report its financial results in November, according to the company's website. A spokesperson for JLR declined to comment on the report. The company started to resume manufacturing earlier this month after an almost six-week shutdown caused by the hack. The luxury carmaker has three factories in Britain that together produce about 1,000 cars per day.  The incident was one of several high-profile hacks to affect major British companies this year. Retailer Marks & Spencer lost about 300 million pounds (about $400 million) after a breach in April shut down its online services for two months. JLR, which analysts estimated was losing around 50 million pounds per week from the shutdown, was provided with a 1.5 billion pound loan guarantee by the British government in late September to help it support suppliers. The CMC, which is funded by the insurance industry and categorises the financial impact of major cybersecurity incidents affecting British businesses, ranked the JLR hack as a Category 3 systemic event, out of a scale of five.  The CMC's estimate "reflects the substantial disruption to JLR's manufacturing, to its multi-tier manufacturing supply chain, and to downstream organisations including dealerships," the report said. ($1 = 0.7451 pounds) (Reporting by James Pearson; Editing by William Maclean and Barbara Lewis)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Akriti Shah (Reuters) -Shares of Texas Instruments sank more than 8% on Wednesday in premarket trading, after the chipmaker's downbeat fourth-quarter profit and revenue outlook deepened worries over a drawn-out recovery in the analog chip market as tariff uncertainty plagues the wider industry. While TI has reduced some of its business exposure to the Trump administration's tariffs through trade deals, uncertainty over additional levies and trade negotiations has weighed on investor sentiment and delayed the pace of recovery. "The recovery pace is much more gradual than anticipated," said J.P. Morgan analysts, adding the wider industry "could still be muted by tariff/trade and sluggish auto recovery". Trump said in August the U.S. would impose a tariff of about 100% on imports of semiconductors but offered an exemption to companies that are manufacturing in the country or have committed to do so. However, this was not a formal tariff announcement, and it remains unclear how companies would be impacted. TI forecast fourth-quarter revenue to be $4.4 billion and earnings per share to be $1.26, both well below Street forecasts. The Dallas-based company reported third-quarter earnings of $1.48 per share, just shy of consensus expectations of $1.49, with restructuring charges and lower gross margins weighing on results.     TI has pledged more than $60 billion to expand its U.S. manufacturing footprint, underscoring its commitment to onshoring chip supply chains. Following the results, at least five brokerages have cut their price targets on the stock. The stock has fallen about 3.5% so far this year, giving it a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of 29.03, compared with rivals Analog Devices and Micron Technology, 26.24 and 11.98, respectively. (Reporting by Akriti Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Netflix missed Wall Street's third-quarter earnings targets because of an unexpected expense from a Brazilian tax dispute while it offered a forecast a touch ahead of Wall Street projections for the rest of the year. The report failed to impress investors accustomed to fast-paced growth from the streaming video pioneer. Shares of Netflix, which had risen 39% this year ahead of the earnings release, fell 5.6% to $1,171.24 in after-hours trading on Tuesday. Netflix is seeking to expand in new areas such as advertising and video games after attracting more than 300 million customers around the world. It faces competition from YouTube, Amazon's Prime Video, Disney+ and others. The media business is facing major changes including the potential sale of industry titan Warner Bros Discovery and the rise of generative artificial intelligence with the ability to produce short videos. CNBC reported that Netflix was among the parties interested in examining Warner Bros' assets. Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos, in response to analysts' questions about possible media consolidation, said the company "can and will be choosy" about acquisition targets. He said the company has no interest in owning legacy media networks but would evaluate opportunities to buy intellectual property. "Nothing is a must-have for us to meet our goals that we have for the business," Sarandos said. Co-CEO Greg Peters said he did not believe media industry consolidation would make things more challenging for Netflix. "Watching some of our competitors potentially get bigger via (mergers and acquisitions) does not change in and of itself, at least our view, the competitive landscape," Peters said. Netflix posted net income of $2.5 billion and diluted earnings-per-share of $5.87 for July through September, a period when the animated "K-Pop Demon Hunters" became the most-watched movie in Netflix history. Analysts had expected $3.0 billion and $6.97, respectively, according to LSEG. Revenue was even with forecasts, at $11.5 billion. Netflix reported an operating margin of 28% for the third quarter. Without the Brazilian tax expense of roughly $619 million, the margin would have exceeded the company's guidance of 31.5%, it said, adding that it did not expect the matter to have a material impact on future results. PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said he believed the tax issue weighed on Netflix shares. "All things considered, this was another robust quarter, despite a blip due to an unforeseen expense," Pescatore said. For the fourth quarter, Netflix forecast revenue of $11.96 billion, compared with Wall Street's projection of $11.90 billion. It projected diluted earnings-per-share a penny ahead of analysts' targets, at $5.45. For the third quarter, Netflix said it recorded its best ad sales quarter in history but did not disclose a number. "This gives the impression that the sustained revenue growth achieved this quarter, and forecasted for next quarter, will predominantly continue to come from subscription fees," eMarketer analyst Ross Benes said. Netflix will release the final season of one of its biggest hits, "Stranger Things," in November and December and stream two live National Football League games on Christmas. "We're finishing the year with good momentum and have an exciting Q4 slate," Netflix said in its quarterly letter to shareholders. Earlier this year, Netflix stopped reporting subscriber numbers and urged investors to focus on revenue and profit. It has expanded into video games and advertising, two areas that have contributed little to revenue so far, according to analysts and investors.  (Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Richard Chang)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

BENGALURU (Reuters) -India's government on Wednesday proposed new legal obligations for artificial intelligence and social media firms to tackle a growing proliferation of deepfakes online, by mandating them to label such content as AI-generated. (Reporting by Munsif Vengattil and Aditya Kalra; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

BEIJING (Reuters) -Baidu announced a partnership with Switzerland's PostBus on Wednesday to launch its Apollo Go autonomous vehicle service in the European country, as the Chinese tech firm accelerates a global push of its self-driving business. The partnership comes after Baidu partnered with Lyft in August to deploy robotaxis across Europe starting next year and follows a deal with Uber to deploy thousands of its autonomous vehicles on the Uber platform across several international markets. The partnership with PostBus, the public transport operator subsidiary of Swiss Post, will see an initial trial fleet begin testing in December 2025 with regular operations to be rolled out in the first quarter of 2027 at the latest, Baidu said in a statement. Baidu and PostBus plan to deploy Apollo Go's autonomous vehicles in eastern Switzerland, covering an area that stretches across the cantons of St. Gallen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden. Baidu, China's leading search engine operator, has been increasing its focus on technologies including AI and self-driving as its advertising-driven search engine business has slowed due to a weakening Chinese economy. Baidu said Apollo Go currently operates a fully driverless fleet of over 1,000 vehicles globally, with its footprint spanning 16 cities including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong. (Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh; Editing by Joe Bavier)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

BEIJING (Reuters) -Baidu announced a partnership with Switzerland's PostBus on Wednesday to launch its Apollo Go autonomous vehicle service in the European country, as the Chinese tech firm accelerates a global push of its self-driving business. The partnership comes after Baidu partnered with Lyft in August to deploy robotaxis across Europe starting next year and follows a deal with Uber to deploy thousands of its autonomous vehicles on the Uber platform across several international markets. The partnership with PostBus, the public transport operator subsidiary of Swiss Post, will see an initial trial fleet begin testing in December 2025 with regular operations to be rolled out in the first quarter of 2027 at the latest, Baidu said in a statement. Baidu and PostBus plan to deploy Apollo Go's autonomous vehicles in eastern Switzerland, covering an area that stretches across the cantons of St. Gallen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden. Baidu, China's leading search engine operator, has been increasing its focus on technologies including AI and self-driving as its advertising-driven search engine business has slowed due to a weakening Chinese economy. Baidu said Apollo Go currently operates a fully driverless fleet of over 1,000 vehicles globally, with its footprint spanning 16 cities including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong. (Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh; Editing by Joe Bavier)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

Jakarta (dpa) – Palm is the world's most widely used vegetable oil and likely the most versatile, featuring in anything from cosmetics to chocolate to fuel to margarine. Harvested from the oil palm tree, its yields per hectare exceed those of similar crops, meaning less land is needed to produce the same volume of oil.  But palm oil is sourced from environmentally damaging monocultures, says Janine Korduan from the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND). The commodity has long been a target for activists seeking to curb the destruction of rainforest and orang-utan habitat in Indonesia and Malaysia, where around 80% of the world's supply is grown. Companies operating in the sector have been accused not only of razing jungle, but of intimidating residents, harassing critics and abusing workers: the US last week banned imports of palm oil from Malaysian company FGV Holdings, a Proctor & Gamble supplier, over allegations it uses forced labour. But proponents of palm say it has been targeted excessively compared to other oils, including scientists and conservationists writing in Cell Reports Sustainability, part of the Cell Press network of science publications. "Almost all oils are associated with biodiversity and human rights issues," the researchers said, including olive oil, the high demand for which has been tied to effects such as loss of habitat for nesting birds. While conceding that concerns about palm oil production are "justified," the team – whose research was funded by chocolate maker Ferrero Group and who are members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Oil Crops Taskforce – said other crops "can cause just as much ecological damage." "Soybean production has driven massive deforestation in South America," the team point out, adding that "sesame production has been linked to human rights abuses in South Sudan and Ethiopia." Public debates about such crops are based more on myth than fact, the researchers say, calling for a rethink of what are deemed "good" and "bad" oils. "Crops don’t destroy forests and other biodiverse habitats; people do," says conservation scientist Erik Meijaard of the Brunei-based conservation group Borneo Futures and the University of Kent. The following information is not intended for publication dpa spr coh arw

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By James Pearson LONDON (Reuters) -The August hack of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), owned by India's Tata Motors, cost the British economy 1.9 billion pounds ($2.55 billion) and affected over 5,000 organisations in the country, an independent cybersecurity body said in a report published on Wednesday.  The report, produced by the Cyber Monitoring Centre (CMC), an independent, not for profit organisation made up of industry experts including the former head of Britain's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), said losses could be higher if there were unexpected delays to the restoration of production at the vehicle manufacturer to pre-hack levels. "This incident appears to be the most economically damaging cyber event to hit the UK, with the vast majority of the financial impact being due to the loss of manufacturing output at JLR and its suppliers," the CMC report said. JLR started to resume manufacturing earlier this month after an almost six-week shutdown caused by the hack. The luxury carmaker has three factories in Britain, which together produce about 1,000 cars per day.  The incident was one of a string of high profile hacks to affect major British companies this year. Retailer Marks & Spencer lost about 300 million pounds (about $400 million) after a breach in April shut down its online services for two months. JLR, which analysts estimated was losing around 50 million pounds per week from the shutdown, was provided with a 1.5 billion pound loan guarantee by the British government in late September to help it support suppliers. The CMC, which is funded by the insurance industry and categorises the financial impact of major cybersecurity incidents affecting British businesses, ranked the JLR hack as a Category 3 systemic event, out of a scale of five.  The CMC's estimate "reflects the substantial disruption to JLR's manufacturing, to its multi-tier manufacturing supply chain, and to downstream organisations including dealerships," the report said. ($1 = 0.7451 pounds) (Reporting by James Pearson, Editing by William Maclean)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)